Grey Horse Matters

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Today is Nikita’s 3rd birthday. She has
been with us for about eight months now and has found a place in our family and
our hearts. For the first fourteen months of her life she was with a
“puppy raiser” for the Guide Dogs of America foundation. Nikita was socialized
with lots of other dogs and people and taken to so many different places for her training.
The ‘puppy raiser’ was kind enough to send me pictures of her life before I got
her. Nikita has been to restaurants, parks, Boy Scout troop meetings,
children’s hospital, painting classes, doctors and dentists offices, movies, on
a ferry ride, Santa Anita racetrack, Christmas parades and many more places too
numerous to mention. At the end of her training she was assessed by the
foundation and sadly turned down because she didn’t have the right temperament
to continue. I was told she gets too distracted to be a good guide dog.
I could definitely see how that would be true.

Nikita was raised with two female Labradors, so
transitioning to one sister, Ginger, my Australian Shepherd, wasn’t very hard
for her since she was always trained with her sisters and many other dogs
too. At first they got along great and then not so much as they both vied
to become the dominant one. Nikita won for a while but somehow Ginger is
now dominating and Nikita follows her around and takes her lead. She
won’t even go out by herself unless Ginger goes first. So they’ve worked it out
between them. They play and run together and have a good time all in all.

The only thing that Nikita has still to master is her
unauthorized horse herding. She will sometimes run into the paddock and
bark and chase the horses. They mostly ignore her but Rosie did give her
a warning kick out with her back legs once. She’s getting much better at
behaving and sitting and staying during turnout and bring in times.

Here
are some pictures of her life so far:

"How cute am I"

"Valentine Puppy"

"I'm a Halloween Butterfly"

"It's Election Day, I voted for the candidate with the most treats!"

"Here I am at Santa Anita, I bet on the winner"

"Saying Goodbye to my friends was hard"

"Nikita in her new home with us"

"I'm in my new home now with my new sister Ginger"

" I don't know what this white stuff is but I like it!"

" Um, I never saw one of these before"

"It's my stick...no it's MY stick"

For a California girl she loves the snow

My Co-Pilot

Can't get in the Kubota without an assistant to help me drag the arena

"Soaking up some sun on the patio"

"No I'm not coming in, one more step and I'm outta here"

" I know nothing about how these flowers got crushed, I think it was Ginger"

" I heard it's my birthday, where's the treats!"

Quote for TodayMy goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Where to start? The first two weeks in October my daughter took
a trip to Ireland, which left me solely in charge of the farm. When she
left, Grady had a bruise on his left front hoof that he was favoring but with a
few days of Bute he was walking better.

"Ireland"

"I can look even sadder if you need me too"

Then Blue decided to come up lame on his right front hoof. He
struggled to walk for two days. Bute didn’t help, and on the third day he just
refused to leave his stall. Which was fine as he was allowed to leave his stall
and wander around the barn areas if he felt like it. He didn’t. We
treated it like an abscess but after a week, nothing happened. We got worried
so I had the farrier check him out. Apparently, the whole hoof was sore. Then he took to lying
down in his stall and not getting up. Next the vet was called to come and check
him out. We got x-rays just to rule out founder or a fracture. Luckily it was
nothing so drastic. The general consensus was that he was working on a really
big abscess.

I’ve got to say Blue is a real trooper…not! As he lay in his
stall moaning and grumbling he was brought hay to munch on, he’d pick up his
head and take a few bites then lay back down until he was brought water to
quench his thirst. I honestly think that if he could have put his hoof to
his forelock he would have said, “ Woe is me!” Typical male behavior,
such a drama queen. We had to soak his foot in a plastic bag while he was lying
down and then wrap it in an Animalintex. Thank heavens his abscess finally blew
about two days ago. It was pretty disgusting and he’s feeling better now
but still not quite there, so he’s still wandering around the barn and small
paddock in his Soft-Ride boots. He may be able to go out with the herd
soon. He’s been missing them since they have refused to come in for the
last four nights and he’s been alone in the barn.

"Ginger"

Around two weeks ago my Australian Shepherd Ginger started having
seizures, three in twenty-four hours. I took her to a vet and she was diagnosed
with Idiopathic Epilepsy. The vet put her on phenobarbital and for the last
two weeks she’s had no seizures but she is a little zoned out. She’s only
two and a half years old. So I’m hoping that her dosage can be cut down
or she can come off it entirely eventually. I’m still not convinced it’s
epilepsy and not something she ate outside. She’s always grazing on weeds
or mushrooms or horse poop or who knows what else. So I’ll wait and see what
the vet says when I take her back in a few weeks.

It’s been a stressful few weeks but things are calming down now and
getting back to normal. Not to be a total bummer there is some good
news. The day after my daughter got back from her trip her new horse was
delivered. We had gone down to our friend’s to see him when she got him
in and she rode him before she left. My daughter worked for our friend who is a
horse dealer when she was in her teens and twenties. It’s the same woman I
bought Rosie from. So without further ado, here is the new addition to
the farm.

" Handsome Hanz"

Hanz
is a German Mecklenburg Warmblood, 16.2hh originally from Europe. He’s a
very kind and smart horse. She’s had a few rides on him since he arrived
and Hanz seems unflappable. He’s fitting in with the herd bit by bit.
Sami is his best friend and for some reason Rosie has taken an immediate
dislike to him and charges him occasionally. She’s being kind of bitchy
really. Maybe once she gets over her heat and gets used to him and Blue is
back in town she’ll change her attitude.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Just need the bridle and we're "Ready to Go" ( I know it's a bad picture but she moved!)

This past week Rosie got to take a short walk around parts of the farm under saddle. I had a feeling she hadn’t been out in the world at large much before I got her so it was time to test out my theory. My guess is that she was kept in a stall and only let out for short times in a paddock or to work. She’s gotten the whole, “Oh, I stay out all day now,” thing down pretty well and she’s adapted to being the only girl in the herd. She still hangs near Blue most of the time but occasionally she can be seen with Grady or Sami. Blue can be a grumpy old man and although older men should be wiser and safer sometimes he’s just a pain. Sorry Blue, but you are.

After she was mounted in the outside arena and thought she was going to work in there, she got a surprise and was walked out and down the driveway to the gravel road by the pond. She wasn't too crazy about the pond because there is a beehive beside it and there are huge carp in there that can be seen swimming near the surface at times. Even Grady spooks when the carp swim by. So, for her first time out she wasn’t forced to stay anywhere she wasn't comfortable because she was a little nervous. Next, she went on with her excellent adventure to explore the path around the outside of the indoor arena. This went a little more smoothly in the absence of strange wildlife. She then was taken into the catch pen and into the next paddock to walk around in the shade under the trees. She’s not only used to being in there everyday, but there was a nice breeze in the morning so it wasn't too hot yet, and it seemed like a nice way to end the ride.

What I like about Rosie is even though she gets worried or nervous, she doesn't have a big spook in her. She doesn’t bolt or spin. The most she does is break into her little western jog. It must be what she feels safest with and so she reverts to her comfort zone. Which is totally manageable. After this successful outing, Rosie will have lots more time out of the ring and little by little she will go farther afield as she gets used to being out by herself.

Now, it would help if Sami would stop calling to her the whole time she’s away from him!

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Unfortunately, this poor guy must have parked his carriage
illegally. In his defense he did try to get out of the ticket by
appealing to the police officer, telling him his brother was "on the
job" as a crowd control horse with the police force. Apparently, the
officer wasn't buying it and ticketed him anyway. Personally, I think he should
be allowed into the court room and be able to state his case to the judge in
person.

Quote for Today

Give me food and drink; and care for me. And
when the day's work is done, shelter me. Give me a clean bed and leave me not
too small a place in the stable. Talk to me, for your voice often takes the
place of reins. Be good to me and I shall serve you more gladly and love
you.